Indignation
by Jupiter Queen
Summary: If Robin did not trust Starfire, then what was the point of it all? (One-shot. Part two of the In Series. Sequel to "Intrigue.")


_**Warning**_ _: Profanity, dark themes, sensual content, and a tablespoon of angst._

 _ **A/N**_ _: I've decided to take "Intrigue" a little further, thus creating a trilogy that I am calling the In Series. As a fair warning, this strays away from the fluff that was present in "Intrigue." Tension and hurt take fluff's place._

 ** _Update (8/24/2016)_** _: So, evidently, July has passed and, while I initially intended to start uploading the next story "Initiation" during that time, I have not. I am still outlining it. I also start my freshman year of college tomorrow. My education, obviously, is a priority. So, can the one anon who keeps pestering me about "Initiation" kindly stop, because no amount of your pleading in an anon review is going to make me upload the story any faster. I am only human, and it is not my sole obligation to upload stories on here. I have an academic career to start focusing on. Thank you._

* * *

Starfire was no stranger to anger, seeing that the emotion helped her channel starbolts during battle. She embraced it when it meant taking down her enemies.

But the underlying anger she felt with Robin was a different beast.

It had been a few months since their first real talk of Batman and Gotham, wherein Robin ensured her that they would travel to Gotham soon—when crime rates went down, he later added.

Yet, ever since crime reports filed by the Titans and Jump City Police Department revealed an all-time crime low, Robin had continuously evaded her questions.

Just a month ago, she recalled cozying against him on the couch. He gently ran his hands through her hair as she rested her head against his chest, paying fierce attention to the rhythmic beat of his heart instead of the movie they had chosen.

As the credits rolled, her focus shifted from his heartbeat to an impending conversation, since this date night reminded her of the city's gradual inactivity.

"Robin, I know I have asked you before, but when will we make our way to Gotham? I believe the right time in doing so is 'springing up.'"

"What do you mean?" he asked, his curiosity piqued.

"We have been able to have many of our most amazing date nights lately. I believe it reflects how well we have been doing as a team in recent weeks."

"Hmm, nice observation, Star. I hadn't thought of it that way before."

She smiled, sitting up and looking at him, almost trying to look beyond his mask. "So, we will soon be able to go?"

His lips twitched into a small grin, more entertained by her enthusiasm than anything. "Yeah," he replied, "soon."

Oh, how tired she grew of the word _soon_. It became his favorite excuse since that night.

Just a week after that, when he had made no mention of concrete plans to fly out to Gotham City, she had politely brought it to his attention again.

"So, I did some research on some flights we could possibly take to Gotham in order to get there inconspicuously, and I noticed one in particular is departing from Jump City Airport in a few days. That may be good for us to—"

"I appreciate how excited you are about everything, Star, but we should make sure the rest of the team is okay with us being gone first."

She looked away. "Oh… I did not account for that."

He caressed her cheek to lift her spirits, coaxing a tiny smile from her. "It's alright, Star. Once we talk it over with them, then everything will fall into place."

She continued to place her faith in his word, just as she always did. "Alright."

"Soon."

"Soon," she echoed before he planted a chaste kiss on her lips.

 _Soon_ , she thought now, with a hint of hostility, her anger approaching a new stage.

Nothing changed, even after Starfire had approached the other Titans on Robin's behalf.

"Raven," she had begun, "if Robin and I were to take a leave of absence for a week, would that be the OK with you?"

Raven, after taking a sip of her herbal tea, replied, "It's fine with me." A smirk appeared on her face as she rested the teacup on the kitchen counter. "If you don't mind me asking, where are you two planning to go?"

"We are planning to visit Gotham," Starfire said with a bright grin, boundless confidence in her voice.

Raven's expression went from mischievous intrigue to surprise. Having been inside Robin's mind, she knew the significance that Gotham held. "You _do_ realize that's akin to getting engaged," she said, her voice giving away her astonishment.

Starfire nodded her head. "I am aware. However, if he and I are to fall deeper in love, then I must make myself acquainted with his world. After all, he has already visited my homeworld."

"That sounds fair enough," Raven said, understanding her judgment.

"I am glad," Starfire replied with a kilowatt smile. Her faith in Robin and their future was unparalleled. She levitated out of the kitchen and down the hallway, her happiness leading the way. "Things are finally falling into their places," she said to herself.

When she talked to Beast Boy and Cyborg, they offered the same support as Raven, being glad to take over for her and Robin, especially if it brought Starfire joy.

But Robin was not as receptive when she carried their teammates' sentiments back to him. He only entertained the subject for a moment before pulling a new topic out of thin air, hoping she would forget about it.

She did not.

Ever since then, his empty musings about leaving _soon_ and reluctance to make concrete plans had been the seeds of her growing ire.

She paced around her bedroom as her ire blossomed into indignation. The excuses and the avoidance surrounding Robin were too much for Starfire to keep contained within her own head anymore. She knew he was hiding something from her.

Either they would break down the walls of communication or their relationship would break apart. (Though she loved Robin too much for the second option to become her reality, she needed a failsafe for her heart.)

She took a deep breath as she prepared herself for her upcoming discussion with Robin, something they desperately needed to have.

Upon walking to her bedroom door, her feet were met with a purring resistance.

She softly smiled and bent down to pick up Silkie, cradling him in her arms.

"Do not fret, my little _bungorf_. I will be back shortly," she reassured. He cooed in content as she placed him on her bed.

He gave her the tiny fraction of joy she needed to fly down the hallway and into the commons.

She approached the sofa, where Robin sat alongside Cyborg and Beast Boy, preoccupied by the television.

"Robin," she softly began, her voice not betraying her upset, "may I talk to you for a moment?"

He glanced at her and replied, "Sure, what's up?"

She led him to a more secluded part of the commons, far enough from the other boys and far enough from Raven, who meditated near the windows.

"Robin, I love you, but you have been neglecting me in regards to Gotham. Are we ever going to go together?"

His face slowly drained of color as he looked around the room, ensuring the others weren't eavesdropping. "Star, now might not be the best time to talk about this."

"No," she defied with her arms crossed, "we have put this off long enough. I am tired of the passive responses and the dismissals. I would like to understand why we have not gone and why you are not making the effort to go."

He had not encountered the more defiant side of Starfire in a while. Sure, he had seen that side of her in battle, but the last time he had faced her this way was when he refused to refer to her as his girlfriend. Seeing that she would not settle for his evasions any longer, he decided to combat with her, facing her head-on. "Starfire, you should really rethink your obsession with Gotham. It may seem like a well-oiled machine to anyone who's never been there, but once you're there, it's a mess of criminal activity. And the crime is beyond Jump City's level."

"First of all, it is _not_ an obsession. I am only fascinated with it because it was your home before Jump, so I do not know why you are the 'standoffish' about it. Second, I recall you mentioning the city is getting better. Is it not?" She raised an eyebrow as she revisited their late-night conversation from a couple months back.

And, suddenly, he remembered how sharp she was. But that didn't stop him from fighting. "I still don't think you'd be able to handle it all. Gotham might be too intense for you, Star."

"Too intense?" she echoed, gawking at him. "Are you forgetting where I come from? Tamaraneans may be friendly, but we are among the strongest races in the galaxy. If anything, you are unable to bear the intensity of _my_ world."

"Tamaran's pretty imperfect if you ask me."

"Did I _say_ that Tamaran was perfect? It is not by any means, yet you and the other Titans were there to see it for both its strengths and its shortcomings." Her expression grew hurt. "Robin, why do you fight with me and continue to make up the bullshit excuses about things? Do you not trust me? Is that the issue?" _Please do not let that be the issue._

He flinched; hearing her curse sent him reeling, but he had to refocus. "I _do_ trust you, Starfire. I just don't want you to get hurt dealing with the shit in my world. Is that too much to ask?"

"Yes, actually. I appreciate that you care about my wellbeing, Robin, but I am not a fragile girl. I am fully competent and capable of looking out for myself. If you have not realized that by now, then you are sorely mistaken and most foolish."

"I'm the foolish one?" he rebuffed. "You're the one who thinks that after all of this I'm still taking you to Gotham."

"I see," she weakly said. Tears welled in her eyes, but she fought them back. She thought about the little bundle of joy waiting on her bed and, because of him, she was able to fly back to her room.

Recovering from the explosion of her frustration and indignation, Robin could only watch her as she flew away. Once he gathered himself, he found himself bombarded with glares. His teammates had heard their argument as it grew louder and, now that Star was gone, they approached him.

"What did you do?" Raven asked slowly.

He wouldn't even argue with Raven; he'd done enough of that this afternoon. He simply sighed. "I got into a fight with Starfire about Gotham. I warned her that it's a rough city and that I don't want her to get hurt, but she saw it as me calling her weak and insulting her heritage."

"Yeah, because it's _her_ fault and you're _such_ a wordsmith," she deadpanned.

He shot her an unamused look. "I never said it's her fault. I did say some things I didn't mean, though. I just… I need to figure out what to do."

"So stop standing here and go talk to her. I can feel her anger and sadness and loneliness, and the only one who can console her is _you_. You started this mess, and you need to fix it."

"I don't know where to begin. I feel like if I try to say something else to her, we'll just be fighting again."

"Well you better say something right, Rob," Cyborg interjected, crossing his arms. "Because if that little lady comes out of her room more upset than when she came in, I won't hesitate to kick your hair-gelled ass."

"Good to know," Robin mumbled before looking at Beast Boy next. He was the only one who hadn't scolded him yet.

"Oh, um, I don't really know what to say, but I'm on Team Star." BB sheepishly grinned. "But, seriously, go talk to her. I don't like it when she's upset."

He gave in, knowing his teammates had the right idea. "Fine, I'll be back."

Robin walked out of the commons and into the hallway, approaching Starfire's bedroom door. He rapped on it three times.

"Starfire, it's me. I want to talk to you."

She wordlessly appeared and let him in. Once he was in the room, he couldn't ignore her walking to her window.

 _Raven was right about the sadness, that's for sure_.

Starfire briefly looked at the calm waters surrounding the tower as she gathered her thoughts. Once she was ready to talk to him, she faced him and met his eyes.

She crossed her arms and gave him a pained look. "If this is the kind of treatment I will get from you, I wish to do the breaking up."

He sharply inhaled. _Well, I fucked up._ "Starfire, this is only our first major fight as a couple. We can't just break up because of it. Besides, I thought I was your _rakkaan'i_."

"You are my _rakkaan'i_ , Robin, and you always will be. But how am I to stay with a man that I only know fragments about?" Her frustration with him ran deeper than Gotham. "How can I copulate with a man when I do not even know the beauty of his real name or the color of his eyes?"

He saw her point, but could not help fixating on _copulate_. (After all, he was still an eighteen year-old guy; he couldn't lie and say he didn't fantasize about being intimate with her.) "You want to sleep with me?"

"Of course I want to, but that should not be the only thing you grasp from this conversation."

He blushed and looked away. "Right."

"Robin, the way you hide your world from me makes me believe that you do not trust me or want me. I know there is so much more to you than what you have shown me, and I want to get to know those things, too. I feel that I have proven myself trustworthy enough to know all of you, yet you deny me the opportunity." She sat down on her bed, feelings of dejection replacing her indignation.

He sat beside her. "Star, I'm just afraid."

"Afraid of what?"

Finally revealing the source of his ambivalence about Gotham, he said, "I'm afraid that once you find out about my past, how I fell out with Batman, and everything in between, you'll see how broken I've been." He paused. "How broken I still _am_."

"Robin, do you believe me to be so shallow?" she asked, her expression puzzled. "I would never judge you for your past. The things that happened to you, for better or for worse, have made you into both my best friend and the hero that I love. And if we are to stay in love, then we must share and accept each other's vulnerabilities."

He met her eyes, reminded of the beauty and truth within them. "I agree 100% with what you're saying, Star, but if we're calling each other out on not sharing pasts, you haven't exactly told me your real name or all of _your_ past."

She wouldn't deny that he was right, but she had a different explanation. "I wanted to tell you about myself when we went to Gotham. That way I could learn more about you and you could learn more about me, but obviously that plan has taken the backseat." Getting ready to reveal her own hectic past, she said, "You technically already know my real name, seeing that Starfire is the English translation. In Tamaranean, it is Koriand'r. Thus, Blackfire's name is Komand'r and Wildfire's name is Ryand'r."

"Who's Wildfire?"

"My younger brother."

"You never mentioned before that you had a brother."

She bittersweetly grinned as she reminisced about Wildfire. "That is because it can be a 'sore subject.' It is best to tell you about myself from the beginning, however. Ryand'r will come up later."

He couldn't help the tightening in his chest as he feared the worst. "Okay," he said on autopilot, Starfire having his rapt attention.

"Tamaran is a place where royalty are expected to have a fierce loyalty to our people. As a result, the marriages which take place amongst our nobility are forged from obligation, not love." She paused to confirm he was still paying attention. He nodded, so she continued. "This is what happened to my parents. They were forced into an arranged marriage, and their only commonality was their reverence for Tamaran."

She took a deep breath. "My people were soon involved in a war with the Citadel, a ruthless race of monsters who sought to conquer various planets… including Tamaran. We found our defenses overwhelmed by them; it was as if they had known our every move. It turned out that they did. Komand'r had 'sold us out' by revealing our defense tactics to them."

His brow furrowed. "Why the hell would she do that?"

"Because our people have never truly appreciated her. I do not know if you have noticed, but Kom is the only Tamaranean lacking red hair and green eyes; this is due to a birth defect. Due to this, I was chosen to be the next ruler upon my parents stepping down or… passing away. She was jealous and embittered, so she quietly betrayed Tamaran. I did not learn of this myself until later." Her eyes slowly glazed over. "My father was the only one who grew to appreciate Kom because she showed an interest in 'playing the game of politics.' They consulted one another to forge an understanding between Tamaran and the Citadel. Finally, they created a peace treaty which… which stated that the Citadel would not bother us anymore upon the giving of a permanent Tamaranean servant. Komand'r convinced my father that since I was of royal Tamaranean blood without any defects—"

"No," Robin softly interrupted.

She slowly nodded before continuing, "—I would be the Citadel's servant. Kom convinced me that I was doing my duty as royalty, so I went without much of a fight. I did not realize that she would be the one to give the orders to the Citadelians who possessed me." She paused, preparing herself for the next arc. "One of the Citadelians who took ownership of me, he grew attached to me. He"—she winced—"desired me, but he could not wait until I underwent transformation, the physiological process akin to human puberty. Because of his impatience, he one day decided to make advances on me. I could not resist them, or else I would be sentenced to death for disobedience. I had no choice but to let him defile me." Hot tears ran down her cheeks.

"Star," he said, his voice weak as he saw the anguish on her face—as his own anguish roared. He could see her reliving that trauma. "Baby, if you feel uncomfortable, you don't have to share anymore."

Her smile, though brief, was bittersweet. "I must. I want you to know all about me, Robin, even if that means sharing the dark times in my life."

He admired her resilience and, seeing that she made her choice, allowed her to continue.

"He took me a couple more times before I just _snapped_. Please do not hate me or remove me from the team for what I am about to say, but I acted out of self-defense," she pleaded as she began bawling. "I lost my sanity before he could lay another hand on me, so I _murdered_ him! He is the only person I have ever killed in my lifetime! I realize that humans frown upon murder, but an incident like that is justified under Tamaranean law!" She placed her hands over her eyes and sobbed. "Please, Robin, do not hate—"

"Starfire," he interrupted with a wavering voice, "I don't hate you."

She wiped her eyes and found the strength to look at him. "You do not?"

"I could never hate you. If anything, I hate the asshole who broke you. I hate your sister for throwing you into this situation." He frowned. "I hate that I couldn't save you from all that pain."

"Robin, how could you have saved me? We did not know of each other's existence at the time."

"I know it's illogical to think, but still. Just knowing that my girl went through all of that and still smiles everyday breaks my heart."

"That is because I have gotten to know people who have shown me great kindness and love." She caressed his cheek before realizing, "I have yet to finish my story."

His face grew pale with horror. "There's more?"

"Yes," she said. "I should have mentioned that my tale is long and complicated." She sighed as her tears subsided. "After I escaped from the Citadel's ship and returned to Tamaran, I angered my father and Kom greatly. My father blamed me for the war that the Citadel waged on us after my escape, and Kom went on to call me useless and pathetic. She even called me a _troq_. The war brought out the worst in my family, everyone except for my brother Ry. He hated the ugliness that grew in everyone and refused to partake in it. The only reason he fought in the war, however, was to defend me. I did not know that his love for me would be his ultimate downfall." She fought the urge to cry again. "Soon after he died, my parents were killed in the war as well. Blackfire and I only teamed up to try and stop the Citadel when she realized her plan had killed our father. Even then, she still tried to make me a slave again.

"My mind was still not in the right place, so my fury led the way as I chased after her. I was so frustrated because of all the pain she caused and, in the process of fighting her, we got captured by a race known as the Psions."

"Psions?" Robin repeated.

"Yes. They are a race which conduct unethical experiments throughout the galaxy, never seeming to stop even when they have a 'scientific breakthrough.' They found Kom and I to be the perfect test specimens because they wanted to see how much energy Tamaraneans could hold before they would combust."

He winced.

"But their experiments backfired. They did not foresee that the excess energy they injected into us would foster our starbolts. That is why Kom and I are the only Tamaraneans that possess them. We managed to escape within a month and return to our planet. We found that the war between our people and the Citadel was over, but that did not stop Kom from having me arrested and transported to the Citadel by the Gordanians."

Robin's jaw dropped. He now knew where this story was headed. "But you escaped from the Gordanians' ship and landed here."

"Precisely. This was the closest planet for me to access."

He didn't know what to say next. This warrior before him, she was so resilient. Yet, after all she had been through, her heart had never hardened. "Star… Koriand'r," he corrected himself, "you're amazing. You've literally been through hell, and you've never showed it."

"That is because you all have showed me how to persevere and transcend my pain."

He was in awe, though he did have one question remaining. "If Blackfire tried to break you so much, though, why be so nice to her when she came to Earth?"

"We both realized that we are the only ones left in our family, so we tried to make amends, or at least I did. Komand'r—she will never change, and that is a lesson I had to learn the hard way."

"The fact that you tried to give her another chance blows my mind. Even after all her wrongdoings against you, you remained so optimistic that you two could make amends. I could never do that."

She nodded. "I was optimistic, yes, but also leery. She has such a fickle nature that I should have known she was 'playing me for the fool,' but ultimately it is Kom who is the fool." She lovingly gazed at him. "Let us not dwell on her. It is you who deserves my optimism and love."

He blushed. "So does this mean we're not breaking up?"

"Absolutely. I believe we shall do the kissing and making up instead." She planted a warm kiss on his lips, savoring this moment, cherishing everything about this boy. Upon parting, she said, "Robin, _ol'du valset i mitnun h'imvas_."

His baffled expression amused her. "What?"

She giggled. "Forgive me. I said, 'You are the light of my sky.'"

"Oh. In that case, you're mine as well." He grinned. "One of these days, you're gonna have to teach me your language."

"Most definitely. I would love for us to communicate in each other's native tongues." Blushing, she said, "Plus, it would be most fun to flirt in front of the others without them knowing."

"I like the way you think." His mood shifted upon a realization: He never apologized to her. "Star, I'm really sorry for everything earlier—for shutting you out and insulting you and the shitty things I said. I know I hurt you, and I feel like an ass because of it."

"Robin, it is the OK. You do not have to feel guilty. I forgive you."

He smiled. "Thanks, Star."

Silence followed after he spoke. The lack of speech was comfortable for Starfire, seeing that she and her boyfriend were on good terms once more, but the silence only fed Robin's worsening guilt. Starfire was able to reveal her traumas and tragedy to him, but he had yet to reveal the tiniest detail of who he was to her. The only things she knew about him were that he was from Gotham City and Batman had been his guardian. If she trusted him enough to reveal her lifetime of being a pawn in intergalactic politics, he should have been able to trust her with his own pain… right?

He had a decision to make, and, though she was at ease now, he had better make it fast.

"Robin, are you alright?"

"Yeah…" he lied before course-correcting. "No."

"Why? Did I do something wrong?" she asked with worry in her eyes.

"No, Star, you're fine. I'm the one who's been doing something wrong. This whole time, I've been worrying about how to juggle you and my identity and my past, but I'm tired of it. I'm tired of keeping on this mask with you. You deserve to know who I am and what I've been through, just like you thought I deserved to know about you." He reached for his mask and peeled it away, letting it fall to the floor.

Starfire gasped. "Your eyes—they are _glorious_ ," she spoke in awe. Sky-blue eyes greeted her, full of brilliance and beauty. She gently placed her hands on his face as she studied him, careful to memorize every detail. She grew confused. "But they also look strangely familiar."

"That's because they belong to Richard Grayson."

She softly gasped as she let his face go. She remembered some of the news articles she had read throughout her time on earth. It all made _sense_ now. "You are the boy Bruce Wayne adopted!"

He nodded, waiting to see if the other dots would connect for her.

"Does that mean Bruce Wayne is… He is Batman?"

"Yeah. Just don't go spreading it around; he's very strict about his identity."

She zipped her lips. "Mum is indeed the word."

He chuckled, fascinated by her take on idioms.

"So… _Richard_ ,"—her lips tingled just by saying it—"that is a most lovely name."

"Thanks. People normally call me Dick, to be honest."

"Does that mean Beast Boy has knowledge of your real name? I believe he has called you Dick before."

"That's because he probably called me _a_ dick." And he wanted to live up to that vulgarity by making Beast Boy train harder later. "He doesn't know my real name."

"Oh… then what is this other 'dick' that you speak of?"

He coughed and looked away. "Um, _dick_ is a slang term for a man's… package."

She raised an eyebrow.

He sighed. "It's the male reproductive organ."

Her eyes widened. "I do not wish to call you by that name!" she insisted. "Richard is _far_ more appropriate."

He dryly laughed. "Luckily my real name is reserved for special people like you."

"Oh, how lovely!" She beamed. "Who else is allowed to use _Richard_?"

His mouth ran dry. "My mother. She used to call me _Richard_ so beautifully. She also called me her 'little robin' because of the way I flew on the trapeze. That's why I took on the name Robin when I started fighting alongside Batman." There was remorse in his eyes. "I miss her and my dad so much."

She frowned. "Robin, I am so sorry that you have had to do the growing up without them. If it pains you, we can discuss something else."

He shook his head. Batman had taught him how to suppress so much of himself and his emotions that he had grown accustomed to doing so. But no more. Starfire was his long-lost key to unlocking stronger emotions and expressing himself. "No, I'll tell you, Star. You told me about you, so it's only fair if I do the same." He sighed. "Where do I begin? Oh yeah—with the obvious. My parents and I used to travel around with Haley's Circus when I was a child; we called ourselves the Flying Graysons because we were a family of acrobats. Admittedly, that's why I love parkour and jumping from building to building now; it gives me a rush that I can't explain.

Anyways, when our circus stopped in Gotham City, we encountered a man by the name of Tony Zucco." He pounded a fist into his palm. "That asshole took my world away from me. He tried intimidating and blackmailing performers into giving him money for protection"—he scoffed—"but my father never gave in. He pissed Zucco off by refusing, so he decided to take revenge." His throat constricted. "The night we performed in Gotham, my parents and I were about to do a special act without nets beneath us. I didn't know that Zucco had tampered with my parents' wires until it was too late." His eyes welled with tears. "I wasn't quick enough to catch my mom. She slipped right through my fingertips." He looked at Starfire with pain etched onto his face. "I couldn't save her, I couldn't save my father, and I couldn't save you."

"Robin, I am alive and I am here with you. I am here _for_ you. Sometimes, you must set aside your desire to everyone from certain doom. It will only consume you with guilt and sorrow like it is now," she said, her voice quivering.

When he felt her palm against his cheek, he gazed at her and realized she was crying too.

"Please do not fret over what is out of your control. Focus on what is within your grasp."

He nodded as he committed her words to memory. Following her advice, he pulled her into a burning kiss, one full of sadness and longing. She was perfectly within his grasp, and he wouldn't let her slip through. He would never let her slip through again.

She threw her arms over his shoulders, wrapping him in a tight embrace. The only reason she parted from him was to guide him to the middle of her bed, where she settled her weight atop him and gave him searing kisses. (An indignant Silkie hissed as he was inadvertently pushed from the bed.) Robin crept his hands underneath her tank top as the kisses grew deeper, as mingling tongues became the source of moans.

" _X'hal_ , _Richard_ ," Starfire breathily said, sending chills up her boyfriend's spine.

She planted her lips along his jawline before her curiosity led her to his neck, where she kissed and gently sucked on his skin.

"Star… _Kori_ ," Robin moaned. His hands wandered to her skirt's waistband as he longed to take this further.

"Robin," she said, urgency replacing allure.

He stopped. "Is everything alright?"

She sat up and moved away from him. "I am comfortable with the making out, but perhaps we should save the sexual exploration for a later date."

"Okay," he said after sitting up. Though he did not mind pushing another boundary, he respected her request.

"I know you may be disappointed. It is not that I do not want us to share our bodies with each other, but I would like for us to 'do it' when the sadness subsides."

"I understand, Star. No sadness sex."

"Exactly."

With another moment of comfortable silence, another realization hit him. "You know I only told you the beginning of my story."

"I realized that just as we did the making out. You did not elaborate on how you met _k'norfka_ Batman, but you do not have to tell me right now. I believe we have made… a breakthrough today."

He chuckled. "You're right. And, don't worry, I'll tell you about Batman and I when we go to Gotham."

Her green eyes lit up. "We are going?"

"Yes, Star, we're going. And I promise that I'll take you there within the next week or so."

A more definitive answer replaced the much-abhorred _soon_. "Glorious!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands.

"C'mon," he said, gently grabbing her wrist, "let's go tell the team."

She grinned as she stood up and began levitating.

"I see someone's happy again," Robin remarked.

"Oh, I have many reasons to be!" she said before exiting her room and floating down the hallway.

Robin ran after his giggling girlfriend, chasing her into the commons. None of their friends had looked up yet, though.

Upon hearing Starfire's laughter, Cyborg said, "I take it I don't have to kick Robin's ass today."

"Indeed. You may save the ass-kicking for another occasion," Starfire replied as she latched onto Robin's hand.

"Good." Cyborg went back to playing his video game alongside Beast Boy, too busy to turn around.

Raven, however, who had been facing the stove as she waited for her tea to be ready, turned around and saw the couple. She gasped, abandoning her usual monotone. "Robin, your mask—"

"It's gone, I know."

Beast Boy and Cyborg ceased playing upon hearing this exchange. They turned around and froze in shock.

"Holy shit," Cyborg said.

" _Dude_ , you're _Dick Grayson_?!" Beast Boy shouted, recognizing him instantly and rushing towards him in awe.

"Last time I checked, I was," Robin said.

"How? When? Where? ...What?" Beast Boy babbled.

"Let's just say Starfire taught me how to be more transparent with the people I care about."

Cyborg, slowly approaching the others, asked, "So what's next? Are you gonna tell us that Bruce Wayne is Batman?"

Starfire interjected, "Yes, but we must keep that on the hush. Batman is very particular about his identity."

Cyborg was flabbergasted, as was his green companion, who exclaimed, "So _that's_ why you never seem to run out of money!"

"I don't think that's the point, Beast Boy," Raven scolded, prompting him to scowl.

"So what _is_ the point, then? What's happening next?" Beast Boy asked. His eyes widened. "Wait, are you gonna become Nightwing now?"

"That's not in the plans just yet," Robin said with a small smirk. "I'm gonna need you all to hold the team down next week, though."

"Why?"

Starfire looked at her love and smiled. "Because Robin and I are going to Gotham."

* * *

 _ **A/N**_ _: And, thus, the real story is about to begin. The grand finale is titled "Initiation" and, unlike the first two stories, will most likely be rated M for various reasons. I am still outlining it, so hopefully I will have the first couple of chapters posted in mid- to late July. (And, yes, it's a multi-chaptered story._ _)_


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